Sophos Comes Up with List of Top Ranking Global Spam Threats

The world leader in IT security and control, Sophos, detected the most prevalent spam threats crippling computer users worldwide in August 2007. The data collected by Sophos's worldwide network of monitoring facilities exhibit a spectacular fall in malware distribution through email attachments, with only one affected e-mail out of 1,000 emails in August 2007, as opposed to one in 322 in the initial six months of 2007.

But unsolicited email has remained a perennial problem - majority of it leading to malevolent Websites developed to affect users.

Several extensive strikes have been conducted through spam, taking users to tainted Web pages with ecards, photos of naked celebs, YouTube flicks, and pop music video clips as allures. Visitors to these sites are in danger of having their computers corrupted by malware, which can then pilfer private data, send out further malware and spam, or start circulating Denial of Service (DoS) strikes against innocuous individuals.

Midway through August 2007 also, there was an upsurge in spam movement because of the world's biggest solo spam crusades, very carefully developed to influence stock prices.

Sophos further appended that the magnitude of affected Web pages keeps on increasing, though at a slower pace than July 2007. In August 2007, Sophos found around 5,000 freshly affected Web pages daily, as opposed to 6,000 in July 2007. As per Sophos, Mal/Iframe and ObfJS are the chart toppers, and Decdec has moved to the third position, comprising 14% of Web-supported malicious software for August 2007, which has risen 11% since July 2007.

Irrespective of whether using a PC for private or business purpose, individuals should watch out for hackers looking for victims through a forceful combination system that integrates general email frauds with hi-tech Web-supported malware strikes, stated Ron O'Brien, Boston-stationed Sophos' senior security analyst, in a statement reported by the September 5, 2007 issue of Dark Reading.

It isn't possible for IT executives, Internet hosts and ISPs (Internet Service Providers) to single-handedly protect themselves against malevolent strikes. People should be informed about the kind of risks lurking, and also the devices accessible to defend themselves from such strikes, added O'Brien.

Related article: Spike in Attacks Causes Early Release of Windows Patch

» SPAMfighter News - 9/19/2007